


Sarah's

by SugdenLovesDingle



Series: Robert Week 2018 [3]
Category: Emmerdale
Genre: Idiots with Feelings, M/M, sarah is alive AU, sort of enemies to lovers, working together in a restaurant AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-24
Updated: 2018-09-24
Packaged: 2019-07-16 11:47:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,986
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16085501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SugdenLovesDingle/pseuds/SugdenLovesDingle
Summary: Robert Week 2018 day 3: Free dayRobert and Aaron meet working in Sarah's restaurant together





	Sarah's

**Author's Note:**

> remember when Robert week was a thing? Well I wrote a few things for that but life got in the way of me finishing those things in time to post them all during that week. So I’m playing catch up now and finishing them - I’ve set the wedding as deadline for myself to finish them all.

“Hey mum, you know our friend Aaron right?” Victoria asked, gesturing between herself and Adam.

Sarah looked up from her workstation where she was cutting vegetables in preparation for that evening’s menu.

“Of course. Haven’t seen him in a long time though, how is he doing?”

“Well not too great. He and his boyfriend just broke up and he’s looking for a job so he can get a flat of his own.”

“He’s sleeping on our sofa for a bit.” Adam added.

“Oh no, I know where this is going and it’s not going to happen.” Robert interrupted.

“You don’t even know what I’m going to say yet! And you don’t get to decide anything anyway.”

“Do you seriously want me to believe you weren’t going to ask mum to give him a job? Like we did with your boyfriend? And it’s a family restaurant isn’t it? Says so above the door.”

“Yes and it’s my name on the paperwork so I decide who does and does not get hired.” Sarah reminded them. “Is that what you wanted to ask Vic? That I give him a job?”

“Well… yeah… kind of?”

“I thought he was a mechanic? Why would he want to work in a restaurant?” Robert asked.

“To get away from his family, mate. They all loved his doctor boyfriend and they’re all disappointed they broke up. I think his mum was already planning the wedding.”

“And you were a mechanic too and now you work in a restaurant.” Vic reminded him. “He just needs a break. Get back on his feet. And you know him, mum. He works hard.”

“We don’t need another stray, Vic. We’ve already got Adam.” Robert argued.

Victoria rolled her eyes at her brother.

“Mum?”

“Alright, tell him to come by and we’ll have a chat and see what we can do for each other. We can always use extra waiters or kitchen staff.” Sarah relented and laughed when her daughter threw her arms around her neck.

“Thanks mum. You’re the best. You won’t regret it.”

“Somehow I doubt that.” Robert muttered under his breath.

A few days later Aaron stopped by and of course Sarah hired him on the spot.

“He’s a nice lad and we could do with the extra pair of hands.” She’d said and instructed Robert to show him around and help him get to know the place, which he was less than thrilled about.

“Right, so you’ll be in the kitchen with me. I’ve got a lot of prep work to do, you can get started on last night’s dishes.” Robert said, turning to Aaron at the start of his first shift.

“Washing dishes?”

“What? Are you too good for that or something?”

“No. But your mum hired me as a waiter.”

“Well she’s busy tonight and I need you in here to wash these dishes. Take it or leave it.”

Aaron rolled his eyes.

“Oh I’m sorry master chef Sugden, I didn’t know you were my boss.”

Robert shrugged.

“I am tonight.”

Aaron glared at him and went to work. Robert was sure he heard him say something along the lines of dick under his breath.

—-

Over the next few weeks, Aaron became a full fledged part of team Sugden, as Sarah jokingly called the restaurant staff. He was a hard worker and always happy to step in and help out at the last minute.

Robert couldn’t stand him but at the same time he was intrigued by him.

There was just no way anybody could be that perfect. Surely the guy had some hidden secrets and Robert was going to do his best to find out what they were.

He’d tried casually asking some questions but Aaron wasn’t very talkative and his answers were usually ‘yes’, ‘no’, or ‘none of your business’.

“Alright, I have to go deal with this supplier, can I trust you two to keep the place up and running and not kill each other?” Sarah asked, looking back and forth between Aaron and Robert.

“We’ll be fine.” Aaron told her.

“Vic will be here in a bit to put the cake together for her friend’s wedding. If that girl shows up before Vic, just give her a cup of tea.”

“Go, mum. Everything will be fine. I’ll make sure of it.”

Aaron scoffed and rolled his eyes but Robert ignored him.

“I’ll be back as soon as I can.” Sarah said and left, hoping her restaurant would still be there when she returned.

“Do you have a problem with me?” Robert asked Aaron as soon as his mother was out of earshot.

“Other than you being an arrogant dick that thinks he owns the world and mainly this restaurant? No, not at all.”

“Excuse me? I’m just looking out for my mum. She worked hard to make this place a success.”

“Yeah, and what makes you think I’ll do something to mess that up?” Aaron asked. “She gave me a job and a chance to get a flat of my own instead of sleeping on my friends’ sofa and working late every other day so I won’t get in their way.”

“Why are you staying at Vic’s then? Did your ex kick you out? Vic told me your boyfriend dumped you.”

Aaron frowned.

“None of your business.”

“I’m just trying to get to know you.”

“By asking me about my ex?”

Robert shrugged.

“By just asking you stuff.”

“You already know me.”

“From the three weeks since you started working here?”

“No. From before. Back at school.”

“You were Vic’s friend.” Robert said with a shrug.

“You really don’t remember, do you? Or are you just pretending you don’t remember?”

“What are you talking about?”

Aaron shook his head.

“You and me. Vic’s birthday. We were thirteen, maybe fourteen. You were, what, sixteen?”

“What about it?”

“We kissed. In the barn on your parents farm. You gave me my first kiss.”

Before Robert’s brain had a chance to process what Aaron had just told him, a group of girls walked in, looking for Victoria and he had to snap back into business mode.

—

“Mum,” Robert started, a few days after Aaron’s revelation, “Do you remember Aaron? From when we were kids I mean.”

“A little, yeah, why?”

“No reason. Just… something he said the other day. About one of Vic’s birthday parties. I don’t really remember him ever being at one.”

Sarah smiled.

“I think it was when she turned fourteen or fifteen. Your dad and I let her have a proper party at the farm and she spent weeks bugging us to let her invite boys.” She said and stopped working and laughed to herself. “I thought Aaron was her boyfriend at first. How wrong was I?”

“Was I around for that party?” Robert asked, trying to remember a time when his sister’s party didn’t just involve a bunch of giggling girls.

“I think so… Although you and Andy were very much preoccupied with Katie Addyman back then.” Sarah said with a wink. “I think I still have some photos at home, I’ll have a look. What are you looking for?”

“Oh uh… nothing special. Just bad hair and ugly clothes.” Robert lied.

Sarah laughed and patted his arm.

“I think you always looked lovely.”

“You’re my mum, you’re supposed to say that.”

“Doesn’t make it any less true. Now get back to work, you slacker.” Sarah joked. “We have that big party for Hotten General tonight so it’s all hands on deck. And that means you and Aaron playing nice too.”

“I’m always nice!”

—

“So the menu is set, you only have to take the drinks orders and then serve the food when it’s ready. This is our first big event so everyone please do your best and hopefully it’ll be the first of many.”

Sarah clapped her hands and everyone went to work. Everyone except Aaron who hovered by the doors leading to the restaurant from the kitchen.

“You alright?” Robert asked, fully expecting to be told to mind his own business, again.

“Er… define alright.” Aaron replied and glanced through the little window in the door. “That’s my ex in there.”

“Which one?”

“The guy with the dark hair and the blue shirt. Talking to the older woman.” Aaron explained when Robert came to stand next to him to have a look.

“Him?!”

Aaron shrugged.

“He was there and he was nice, alright. Uncomplicated. Or well… that’s what I thought.”

“He wasn’t uncomplicated?”

“He just… he was way more into it all than I was… and he never seemed to notice.” Aaron sighed. “I fell last year while I was out running and broke my foot. I ended up in hospital and he was my doctor. When I was discharged he gave me his number.”

Robert snorted.

“Classy.” He said and looked through the little window again. “Adam said your family really liked him.”

“Oh yeah my mum loved him. My gran too. They pushed me to give him a call and go out with him.”

“Bet you regret listening to them now.” Robert joked.

“I don’t know. He’s… nice. Boring but nice.”

“Did you guys live together? What with you crashing on Vic’s sofa now.”

“No, not really.”

“Not really? How can you not really live with someone?”

“Boys, we’re really busy tonight and I really need everything to go smoothly.” Sarah said, coming up behind the two men. “Please save the gossiping for later.”

“We weren’t gossiping!” Robert protested.

“Well please save it for later anyway, we need to focus now.” Sarah replied before disappearing through the double doors to personally greet the guests.

Aaron took a deep breath and attempted to follow her but Robert pulled him back into the kitchen.

“Give me your shirt.”

“What?”

“Switch shirts with me.” Robert said, unbuttoning his chef’s uniform.

“What? Why?”

“Do you really want to go through the awkwardness of having to serve your ex?”

“No but…”

“Then give me your shirt. I’ll serve, you stay in here.”

“What? But I’m not a cook. My cooking is beans on toast.”

“I’ll help. Most of it is done anyway and you’ll only have to dish it up.” Robert said, holding out his uniform while Aaron started undoing the buttons on his own shirt.

The evening went by smoothly. Robert and Aaron made a surprisingly good team and actually enjoyed working together, and even though Sarah had done a double take when she’d seen Robert in a waiter’s uniform instead of his usual chef whites, she’d accepted it when he’d said he fancied a change.

“So tell me, how do you not really live with someone?” Robert asked, putting the last of the dirty plates in the sink.

The two of them were the only members of staff left after volunteering to get started on the clean up in the kitchen. Sarah had been suspicious, but in the end, happy to get home and leave the boys to it.

Aaron looked at Robert as if to try and figure out if he was being serious.

“Why do you want to know about my ex so badly? Do you want me to give him a call and put in a good word for you?”

Robert laughed.

“No thanks. He’s not exactly my type. He’s too… pure and polite. He told me to make sure to give the chef my compliments about the food.”

“Being polite is a deal breaker?” Aaron asked laughingly.

“Well, you know me…” Robert trailed off.

“You’re an arrogant twat?”

Robert laughed and rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, yeah, I know, I’m sorry. Now tell me about your crazy ex.”

“He wasn’t crazy… he’s just… boring.” Aaron shrugged. “But he had a nice place in town and I stayed over a lot to get away from my mum interrogating me about my love life.”

“Yeah I’m with you on that one. Working with my mum and my sister means privacy about my love life is non existent. But that doesn’t really matter since my love life itself is non existent.” Robert said and they both laughed.

“Do you want to get a drink when we’re done here?” Aaron asked as they got started on cleaning the kitchen together. “Commiserate about our failing love lives and interfering mothers.”

“Yeah sure, I’d like that.” Robert replied. “But we don’t have to go anywhere. We can have a drink here. It’s ok, I know the owner.” He said with a wink.

Aaron laughed and shook his head.

“Aren’t we supposed to clean up here?”

“Who says we can’t do both?”

“Let’s just get the clean up done first, alright? I don’t want to get fired before I get my first pay cheque.”  Aaron said, only half joking.

“Yeah alright. You’re right.” Robert said and turned the spray nozzle on as if to rinse off the plates but instead shot a jet of water at Aaron.

“Oi! What was that for?!”

Robert grinned and sprayed more water at Aaron.

“Robert!”

“What? I’m just having a little fun.”

“Fun? You want fun, do you? I’ll give you fun.” Aaron said and grabbed the spray nozzle from Robert’s hands and sprayed water at him.

Before they knew it, they were in the middle of a full on water fight. Spraying water at each other and chasing each other around the kitchen with wet dish towels.

“Surrender?” Robert asked laughingly as he threatened to chuck the contents of a mixing bowl full of water at Aaron.

They were both soaked to the bone and somewhere in the back of his mind, Robert knew Sarah would have a heart attack if she saw the state of the kitchen, but when Aaron was smiling at him like that, he couldn’t bring himself to care.

“Never.” Aaron replied, throwing a wet towel at Robert’s head before ducking away behind one of the large bins that had somehow ended up inside.

Only what followed wasn’t the sound of the towel hitting Robert in the face or the floor behind him, but a crash and a rapid string of swear words.

“Shit, are you alright?” Aaron asked when he peeked around the bin and saw Robert sprawled out on the kitchen floor, face scrunched up in pain.

“Yeah… I just slipped.” Robert said through gritted teeth. “I’m fine.”

“You don’t look it.” Aaron replied, sliding over to him on the wet floor and helping him sit up.

“I’m ok. Just a bruised ego.”

“With the size of your ego, I think that classes as a major injury.” Aaron joked and they both laughed.

“Don’t make me laugh.” Robert winced as he moved to sit against the kitchen cabinets. “I think I bruised a little more than just my ego.”

“Come on, let me help you up and take you to A&E.”

“No, no, it’s ok, I’m ok. It’s nothing a few paracetamol won’t fix.”

“Are you sure? You might have broken something.”

Robert shook his head.

“No, it’s fine. I just… landed a bit awkwardly. I’ll probably only be a little sore in the morning.”

Aaron looked at him, almost studied him, as if to make sure he wasn’t about to die on him before moving to sit next him.

“So much for cleaning up.” He said, looking around.

Robert smiled and gingerly stretched out his leg in front of him.

“It’s just water, it’ll dry.”

“You just head home, I’ll clean up.”

“No, you don’t have to do that. We made the mess together, we’ll clean it up together.” Robert insisted. “Just… give me a minute to catch my breath.”

“Alright.” Aaron agreed, leaning back against the cabinets.

They sat in silence for a while until Robert spoke.

“I’m sorry. For being such a dick to you the past few weeks.”

“Well I think you’ve paid for it now.” Aaron joked, bumping his shoulder against Robert’s

“No, I mean it. I am sorry. It’s just… this place. It’s not just my mum’s dream, it’s mine too. Well… mine and Vic’s but Vic wants to do her own thing with her food truck and cakes.” Robert said, eyes fixed on the floor. “I get stupid defensive and protective because it’s my dream come true, too.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. My mum always loved to cook and I liked helping her as a kid and things kind of grew from there. Until my parents got divorced and my mum moved away. My dad didn’t think cooking was a man’s job. He got me a job in the garage to learn a real trade because I didn’t want to take over the farm like Andy.”

“Sounds like your dad.” Aaron commented

“Do you remember him?”

Aaron shrugged.

“Sort of. But Vic told me you and him didn’t really get on.”

“Yeah. Understatement of the century.” Robert sighed. “Vic doesn’t know everything. She thinks he was just strict. Which he was… but, you know…”

“He wasn’t _just_ strict?”

“Nope. He had a sort of plan for all of us, and me being bi and liking to cook didn’t fit in that plan. He didn’t like that.”

“Yeah. I remember when Vic invited me to her birthday party, he thought I was her boyfriend and he wasn’t too happy with that either. He gave me this respect my daughter or else lecture. Kept calling me Dingle and all.” Aaron told him. “If only he’d known Vic wasn’t the one of his children I was interested in.”

Robert looked up at that.

“Was?”

“Was back then. Am again now…”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

Robert smiled and leaned in for a kiss, stopping inches from Aaron’s face, only for the other man to put his hand on the back of Robert’s neck and close the distance between them and kiss him.

“Was that as good as the first time?” Robert asked when they broke the kiss.

Aaron smiled and shook his head.

“No. It was better.”


End file.
